Honoured.  Amazed.  Stunned. Excited. Ecstatic.

Five completely inadequate words to tell you how I feel about the fact that not only have I done a Tedx talk (gulp! First public speaking gig ever...go big or go home!!), but it has made its way to youtube and now, thanks to the hard work of SO many wonderful young Mongolians determined to help bring their wonderful country  along the road to development and the miracle of modern science called the internet - you too can see the talk and get the back story of the creation of the Children of the Peak Sanctuary.  

I hope you enjoy it! I know that  for me it has been an experience that has changed everything. Everything.  And just as an aside, and not as an "ageist" thing, if you're over 50 and haven't stretch you personal boundaries lately ....you should.  It really ROCKS!! I've included a couple of the slides  from the presentation that don't show up too well on the video...maybe I'll manage to stretch my boundaries some more and figure out how to upload the whole thing....but I googled it and it said "How to upload a Power Point Presentation to Blogger in only 9 easy steps"  Nine huh.  Maybe tomorrow :)

In the meantime... here's the link.  Enjoy...and please share - raising awareness about this situation is the biggest step towards fixing it!  Thanks!

Tedx Ulaanbaatar Women - Children of the Peak Sanctuary Project - The Power of Decision

Well, It's Official! 

I've been invited by the prestigious Ted Talks organization in the form of TEDxUlaanbaatarWomen to speak on the life changing effect of discovering the children up at the Peak and truly seeing how they were living. December 7th, for 12 or so minutes up at the Black Box Theatre here in Ulaanbaatar I will be making my large venue public speaking debut....gulp.... and sharing  some of the "insider's" view of starting the Children of the Peak Sanctuary. Amusing anecdotes included...

And while it is somewhat uncomfortable to be sitting here writing a blog about...well..me...(I'm not the type to blow my own horn really.  Really!! ) I can't tell you what an incredible honour this is.  I was initially very amazed (read dumbfounded!!) by their request, but now am very very much looking forward to being able to share with the world how the beauty that is these children has transformed my own life, and that of so many of you who have been moved to help. As I always say, the more people that know about the situation up at the Peak, the better.  Together we can truly effect social change and I know that a high profile talk such as this cannot help but  raise the awareness both within Mongolia and overseas.

The TEDx group here in Mongolia is headed by a group of dynamic, engaged young Mongolian women who are impressive in their talents, dedication and drive and their unstinting dedication to this cause that they are volunteering their time for.  They are also looking for sponsorship to help defray the costs of bringing this world class international event to Mongolia. 

You can see what it's all about there!  And to those of you in Mongolia - Let's make this the most successful TED event in Mongolia to date - get your tickets now!!
Oh, yes and in case you are wondering why this blog entry is decorated with pictures of me...?? It's because I had to choose one for the  bio they were doing on me - It had to be one without sunglasses on ( turns out there were darn few of those!) and a head shot. You have NO idea of how tough it is to look through literally hundreds of photos of yourself and try to pick on that will adequately represent the "who" you are in this context.  Not to mention how unsettling it is to look as literally dozens of , hmmmn, how shall we say it..."unflattering" snaps of yourself.  New Year's resolution in November time!! In any case, these were the finalists in my mind.

Which one would you have picked? Just curious if the world sees me the same way I see me.  I guess on Dec 7th I'm going to find out....See you all there - or later on the Ted Talks youtube page! 

...oh and just for fun, here's the uncropped versions of those photos - I think the context is relevant..at least it is, to me. 

With two of our little Kindergarten attendees...last spring while the centre was still under construction.

Caving with the kids from the Peak at Bag Choloo ger camp - en route to Oyu Tolgoi for their first EVER vacation.  Thanks to OT for the free trip!

At a Saturday lunch programme before the centre was officially opened.  With what would later be one of the children in our Kindergarten and one in our "To and After School  programme."

With  one of my Mongolian "Granddaughters" on the occasion of her own Kindergarten graduation.

En route to Oyu Tolgoi with the Children of the Peak...being chased by a herd of wild camels.  No, seriously!! They were chasing us!! What ?  Don't I look scared?

Well, it's been nearly a year to get to this point, but earlier this month we finally opened our doors - officially!  Now,thanks to endless hours of volunteer work by some very committed people, tons of donations large and small,  every weekday,  children of the Peak come to our centre for fun, friendship, lessons and, of course food.  And let's not forget warmth...physical and psychological..and lots of it on offer to these very special kids!

 It was spectacular to see the little ones show up - mostly all dressed in their Tsagan Sar best.  This princess was the first through the door..and the first one to find out that every time you come through that door your hands will be getting washed! And yes, that is our fearless Executive Director Sue Crews in charge of hand washing...her talents know no bounds!  

 The first moments with the toys and new friends....

..and their new teachers!  Huge thanks to Bayasaa and our other assistant teachers who stepped up and took the lead when our "professional" teachers promised by the government failed to materialize.  

 And huge thanks to to the rest of the staff who have been working long long hours to dot all the i's and cross all the t's.  As you might imagine, it's quite the undertaking getting this working!!

...and not everyone appreciated the fact that they were lucky to be there!!  This is our accountant Maagaa working well outside her job description!

 As opening day wore on...lots and lots of joy started creeping in..

 although we still had our tremulous moments...and one little girl who was coming completely unglued for a couple of hours and in the end could only be calmed by seeing her usual care giver...

...her big brother!!

He knew the secret to her happiness was at one end of a teeter totter!  With info like that - the rest of the day was  a snap for her!

 And when the "dell" uniforms came out 
...everyone took to them like a house on fire - even our little Munkhchimeg..."silver braids" is what her name means..and I think it is pretty apropos somehow given how wiry her wonderful hair is!! I suspect when we get our shower building built ( next big project!!) and get some shampoo into that hair it might settle down...maybe.

In the meantime, with a little help from the teacher, we managed to get a little control on that riot of gorgeous black hair! For a minute at least!

 ...I have to say I love these little dells that are serving as a warm layer of clothes and as a school uniform of sorts..and so, it turns out, do the kids.

The apparently multi cultural Tea Party.. 

 We really only had one day with crying clients..and even at that there were only 4 or so that were serious about it.  Most of the children were like this little one...delighted to be there!

 The girls were in blue dells and the girls in grey....right?  Right??  Well...ok, it took a couple of tries to figure it all out, but we have it working now!

Hair nicely calmed - or at least as close to calmed as it gets, Munkhchimeg skipped away...in stolen shoes!  And yes, they were returned to their rightful owner but oh, what a wonderful Wizard of Oz moment! I kind of expected her to click her heels together and ...well..who knows?

 Look what I got at school today mom!!

How great is this! Part of our hygiene initiative ( along with hand washing and teeth brushing) kids, adults, visitors, teachers...everyone wears slippers!  Everyone! Of course...it does make shoe " borrowing" somewhat easier....but we're working that one out too!

 One of our great supporters, Soyolbold who rode the 700 Km. Gobi Gallop to raise funds for the centre finally got a chance to meet the kids he was helping - only to find out that they wanted to steal his long hair!!  It was so much fun watching him play with the kids and learning first hand that kids, even kids who work at the dump, are just kids. 

So now the real work begins.  For all of us. These kids will be learning about life, letters and getting on with others and we'll be working hard to raise funds and awareness to  make sure the centre will be able to keep working ( and growing!!) for years to come.  Wonderful, rewarding work it will be too, to watch these kids as they grow and learn and with confidence and skills the get from the Sanctuary  move forward to take their place in the world.  And it won't be on the garbage dump.

Mongolian Mumbles: Our own Gobi Marathon!!

A wonderful look at our preparations leading up to our 700 KM across the Gobi Desert to raise funds for the kids at the Peak!

Enjoy!

It is our slogan and the basis of our foundation and we have it on business cards, letterhead and emails, but recently we had the opportunity to see the beauty of the slogan in action.  We ( and by that I do not mean the royal we...I mean we - us -  the Veloo Foundation and YOU!!) had a chance to make the biggest difference possible to a child. We helped save his life.

Meet Anand, a lovely little Mongolian boy who was born with a number of seriously fatal cardiac birth defects.  He was diagnosed at 28 days of age by a visiting Japanese cardiac surgeon who told Anand's parents the bad news that without surgery he would not survive, and (here's the kicker) as Mongolia does not have a neo-natal cardiac intensive care unit he would be unable to receive the surgery in Mongolia. 

 Imagine hearing that your child needs surgery that is readily available ( and not that complicated they tell me!) in the developed world but, because of where you live he can't have it.  And will die. Anand's mother was not going to accept that and starting from his initial diagnosis she began her search to find someone who would pay for him to go overseas for surgery. It didn't really matter where - almost anywhere could correct his problems.  She went from agency to agency and again and again was told that his diagnosis was too severe, that it didn't meet the criteria for assistance, that they wouldn't send him.  Fortunately, she eventually came across MedPro Vision Foundation - a local NGO set up as a charitable branch of a new hospital development.  This NGO has just started and when the doctors who work there heard about Anand they immediately set about finding someone who would fund the $15,000.00 USD that it would take to send Anand along with his mother and a local doctor to India for surgery. And yes, you read that correctly....$15,000.00 for air tickets, hotel stays, hospital stay, surgery, after care, food etc...everything.  All of it.  The life of a child - $15,000.00.

When I heard about it I knew that we were going to help even though the foundation doesn't really "do" medical.  I didn't really ask too many questions - wouldn't have understood the answers anyway - I just knew that if the doctor said he could survive the trip and the surgery, he was going.  I initially heard about  Anand from an email on March 4th from the President of IWAM who had been approached by Med Pro Vision Foundation about possibly donating some money.  They had attached an information sheet about Anand including his diagnosis and prognosis which included the chilling words - Anand  will likely not be strong enough to survive surgery in 3 weeks.  His oh-so-slightly wonky clock which had been ticking ominously since birth was nearly ticked out. Three weeks.  $15,000.00 and he's fine.  Or...Three weeks, and he's dead.  Pretty much a no-brainer.

So, two days after initially hearing about Anand,  along with the president of IWAM (International Women's Association) and a few concerned private citizens ( including a pediatric nurse and a  couple of surgical nurses!)  interested in helping, it was off to the hospital  to meet Anand, his mom and the doctor.  It was the toughest thing any of us had ever done.  Sitting across the room from a woman whose baby effectively has a death sentence if you don't help --- and  knowing as we walked in that she did not know that help was a foregone conclusion.

Baby Anand, it turns out, is quite a character.  And..he loved Jacob! I guess as the only two guys in a room full of women they kind of had to stick together! They certainly had each other laughing!!

And even though he had been struggling with increasing weakness as his growth put more of a strain on his heart, hospitalizations for pneumonia and the like and sometimes getting along with only 70% oxygen saturation, it was pretty clear that Anand, other than a seriously screwed up heart, was just fine. And so, twenty minutes or so into the meeting and after a hurried "this is a no brainer" agreement between us all, we got to ask that wonderful question..."So, if we get the money to you tomorrow, when will you be ready to head to India?"

There were not a lot of dry eyes in the room - including the two doctors Saruul and Solongo from the MedPro Vision Foundation. Anand was their most serious and urgent case and the relief they felt at the offer to fully fund the trip and his surgery was overwhelming.  And these girls don't fool around either.  No sooner had the deal been done than they went to work on making it happen.

We met Anand at the hospital on Wednesday. Thursday was the IWAM board meeting and IWAM committed to donating 5,000,000 tugrugs, private donors committed to 5,000,000 tugrugs and the Veloo Foundation picked up the balance...a little over 6,000,000 tugrugs.  MedPro Vision had the money Thursday afternoon.  The hospital administrator agreed to let the head of Pediatric Cardiology ( Anand's doctor) leave to accompany him on short notice and so, in an exquisite alignment of the universe,  on Saturday, Anand was off to India.

He arrived on Sunday and was admitted to Apollo hospital in Chennai where he was subjected to a whole battery of tests which showed that he was only suffering from two of the three problems he had been diagnosed with and so the whole repair could be done in one fell swoop  - only one operation ... not one now and another one in six months as had been feared.  He spent 9 days in this wonderfully modern hospital ( I've been promised pictures of his time there ...as soon as I get them I'll add them on so you can all get a see the beaming doctors who cared for him) as every thing was prepared for his surgery and on March 18th, he underwent 5 hours of surgery which saved his life. A few hours after surgery he was off of oxygen and 5 days later he was out of intensive care. Ten days after that he and his mom were back on an airplane heading home.

He is back in Mongolia now with his Mom and Dad.  He arrived last Monday after a speedy and thorough recovery from the surgery and sporting a rather spiffy scar from belly button to the top of his sternum. 

And guess what he arrived home just in time for?

Yup - his first birthday!!  A particularly poignant celebration because of its uncertainty only a month previous. When I realized it was his birthday, I asked  the MedPro Vision people if it would be ok if I got him gift, and if so, what did he really need?  The answer was a lovely "Of course you can get him a gift!" and like boys everywhere , ONE YEAR OLD (Hooray!!) Anand loves cars!  What better  to celebrate this gift of a birthday with than a Steve McQueen cake ...and..

...a car of his very own! 

 I couldn't resist it - this little push car has " Happy World" written across the back. Happy indeed.  

And it was so beautiful to see a happy and healthy Anand with his Dad...although it turns out that babies are babies and his current biggest gripe is that he's cutting some molars and is a bit fussy with it!

Wonderful moment indeed.  That little boy is truly loved...and his mother tells me his scar will be a reminder to him  each day that  he's going to grow up and be a doctor.

I suspect he might have something to say about it...

...like - How do I know what I am going to be?  I'm just a kid!  Time will tell ..and, as he is growing, he will be surrounded by his lovely family...and a whole cadre of new "aunties" and "uncles" all of whom have a special place in their heart for this tough little survivor...and I am certainly one of them.  

Pain...doesn't that saddle look like pain?  It used to look quaint to me - a testimony to the simplicity of herding life on the steppe.  Now it just looks like pain.  Why you ask?  Because now I have to ride it..!! That's right - a bunch of intrepid riders here in Mongolia have decided to ride across the Gobi on horseback in support of the Children of the Peak - the kids whose families make a living scavenging at the dump here in Mongolia!

And yes, I am one of them.  A scant 19 months after the first time I sat on a horse I am set, along with 4 others and our wonderful guides from Sara's Ger Camp, to take on 700 kilometers of some of the toughest riding on the planet in order to raise awareness and funds to help the Children of the Peak.  As part of the fund raising, we are taking pledges as to how many kilometers we can collectively ride in a Mongolian saddle like the one pictured above.  We are hoping for 70 km  - a total of 10 percent of the ride!

I have attached the informational flyer about the ride below, so have a quick squiz and see what it's all about.  I'd like to say it should be fun...but...??  In any case, it will be an experience of a lifetime and hopefully will help change the lives of some really wonderful children up at the garbage dump.

Thanks for sharing this with all your friends!

What it is:

 A ride across the Gobi Desert – high, rocky, hostile.  So barren that we will have to bring along feed and water for the horses and we expect to face sand storms, flash floods and mile upon mile of glass like obsidian underfoot. In short,  over 700 kilometers across some of the most challenging landscape there is…and we’re going to cross it in just 10 days.  In order to make it across in 10 days, we will be having at least three 100 km days.  For those of you who don't ride...that's a LONG way!

When:
 On May 18th, 2013 we will be setting off  from Sara’s Ger Camp – 8 km. north of the big Chingiis Khaan statue.  Our destination?  Oyu Tolgoi -  deep in the heart of the South Gobi Desert.  700 kilometers, 10 days  and countless challenges and adventures later, we expect to arrive on May 28th.

Who we are:
 This year we have 5 riders (3 women and 2 men)  ranging in age from 44 to 64. Our least experienced rider sat a horse for the first time only 1.5 years ago -our most experienced had that pleasure 60 years ago! Together we are parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles who want to give the same kinds of  opportunities and support  to the Children of the Peak as we have given to our own children and grandchildren.

Why are we doing this?
To raise funds and awareness in support of some of the most disenfranchised and neglected children in Mongolia - those whose families make their living scavenging at the dump – the Children of the Peak.  Full details about the project at www.veloofoundation.com


You Can Help!
Please consider sponsoring the ride by helping us provide food & water & return transportation for both the participants and the horses….

Or…

2013 has arrived and we had such fun welcoming the New Year up a the Children of the Peak Sanctuary!! If you've read the previous blog then you know about all the fun we had putting together the gift bags - and if you haven't read the previous blog...What's wrong with you?  Go read it !....then come back and read this one!! 

So..without further ado, for those of you who have done your homework,  here is a look at some of the magical moments of the day!!

Chrangoo (hopefully I have transliterated that correctly!) gazing a little suspiciously at Santa...off camera.. being held in the loving embrace of his care giver and big brother.

The day started with some last minute additions of candy to the gift bags...we ran out the night before and had to stop en route and buy some more, and some more little plastic bags to make up the candy bags for the gift bags...good thing we have a big car..and an understanding driver!!

Once we got to the site we found everything in fevered preparation for the day.  There would be a talent show by the kids and the performers were getting their makeup put on  by the youngest make-up artist I have ever seen!  

..and the whole community got together to shovel up the packed down snow so that the kids would have a warm place to stand while waiting for Santa..or " Winter Grandfather" as they call him here.

While we were waiting for electricity ( yes, they jump-started the house for this event..don't ask! Suffice it to say that the electricity has now been professionally installed and in the future jump-starting the electricity will NOT be necessary!) we took the opportunity to spend some time with the kids.  All 170 of them. And a handful of local and ex-pat volunteers ( thank you guys!)...and grandparents...and..well, you get the idea...

...all in about 450 square feet!!  It is hard to believe there were that many people there ...and room (sort of!)  for a show the kids had been working on all week!

Everyone wore their Sunday best - including the academic medals this little one won in first grade! She was so proud of them!

And this sleeping baby just kept getting passed from person to person to person...gorgeous!

 ...and this little guy came in a little late and was alarmed to see there were no seats..but, luckily, secured the best seat in the house on the lap of his new friend!!

Finally it was time for the show!  The kids had clearly put a lot of work and thought into the show and their pride and determination...not to mention talent!!.. really showed through!

We had traditional Mongolian songs & dances...

...arena style announcements by out talented M.C...

..a really wonderful, (if somewhat nervous) rendition of the three or four minute traditional Mongolian greeting...

 and, of course, what show in 2012 would be complete without a rendition of ...Da Da Da... Gagnam Style!  In Dells...it was wonderful.  And some of these kids can really DANCE!!

Of course, so can some us of old fogies- as evidenced by this very up-beat version of the traditional posed photo!

After the show it was time for food ( sorry - no photos, but lovely piroshki ..dumplings..was served!) and then, of course, Grandfather Winter arrived - complete with 200 gift bags!

A big hit!

And it was lovely to see that the little Mongolians approach Santa with the same cautious reserve as kids anywhere...!

It was a very anxious time for everyone waiting....

So serious in her little chicken suit on her way to the "sock " station where everyone who got a gift bag also received a pair of wonderfully warm camel hair socks - and had them put on their feet as well to make sure that the socks truly became theirs and were not taken and sold for a profit by their parents or other adults!

Bayaraa, our driver and friend, did a FABULOUS job with his role as the man in red!  He really hammed it up and had the kids entranced!

Joy!

Some of the locals heard we were giving away socks and came to see if they could get a pair for themselves!  It was very cute!

After dinner there was cake and as everyone left we gave them apples and oranges to take with them.  The oranges were a BIG hit!

And it was great to see that some of the kids even sported the traditional winter dell that is so essential here in the winter!

Quite a few of the little ones came with their Grandmothers.  I love this photo because it shows so clearly how happy and proud the Grandmas are to be able to participate in such a fun day with their grandbabies!  They were clearly old friends and they were very gracious when they stopped to chat with me and thank us for hosting such a wonderful community event - the first of many I hope!

My second favourite moment...a volunteer from Price Waterhouse Coopers Mongolia heard this little girl crying and crying with no one helping her and went over to find out what was wrong.  Cold hands ....so, down she knelt and patiently rubbed the little hands, blew her warm breath on them and, when the little girl had warmed up enough to stop crying, took off her own very warm woollen mittens and put them on the little girl's hands.  Magic happens.

And my favourite moment of the day. It happened about two "blocks' away from the centre as we were driving away.  We saw this little girl walking home ( presumably ) alone dragging her bag along the ground.  We stopped and rolled down the window to say hello and at first she was VERY suspicious ( someone has been talking to her about strangers in cars - Excellent!) and then she saw me through the open window and her face split into a huge smile.

"Oh, it's you!" She exclaimed with joy and recognition in her voice!  " Thank you!!  Happy New Year!"  She called out as she waved to us.

 I couldn't have said it any better myself! So, in the timeless words of the four year old in her bright green  jacket, please imagine me smiling and calling in delight across the vast reaches of the Internet..

"Oh, it's YOU!!  Thank you!  and Happy New Year!"
And let me add...I hope that 2013 is  a wonderful, healthy, productive and truly special year for you and yours...and for us up at the Peak too!

Well, it's nearly 2013 and we have a New Year's  party happening up at the Peak next Sunday, December 30th!  For those of you not living in Mongolia, New Year's is the big celebration here - not Christmas...although the evolving celebration of New Year's here looks a lot like what we think of when we think of Christmas. There are some very excited kids up there ( like this one!) who are getting geared up for a special day which will include a wonderful meal, play time with some visiting adults, singing traditional songs, perhaps some Christmas carols, with luck, a roaring fire to huddle around, and...of course.. presents!

 For those of you who can't be there for the party, here's a quick look at what those presents will look like and how I managed to finagle so much for so little!

 I spent last week out shopping, determined to get some great gifts to give to the kids up there and still stay inside our budget....a meagre 5,000 per child...that's about $3.50 for those of you who aren't familiar with Tugrugs.  We are buying for 200 kids so we had to keep it low....but that didn't mean that we had to be cheap.  Take a look at what a lot of begging, browbeating, bulk purchase will buy you here....

The first order of business was to make sure that everything ( and I do mean everything!) that will be part of the gift will be either entertaining or useful...starting with the gift bags.  I found the material at the black market - 6 bags / meter and one meter costs about $1.00...and the lady who made them for us did it for 500 tugrugs / bag.  Total cost per bag was about 45 cents..and the bags are not only lovely and colourful, but will also serve a multitude of purposes for each child and their family.

 Here's what I really wanted...right from the beginning I wanted each bag to have a brand new pair of camel hair socks - made in Mongolia and amazingly warm!

 I went to the Black Market to price them ... but the cheapest I could find them for there was 4,000 / pair. Way out of my price range.  But as has happened so many times on this adventure of building the sanctuary, when one of the ladies at the Black Market found out what we were doing and why, she told us where the factory was and suggested we head up there and speak to the boss as he was  a nice guy.  A nice guy indeed, when he found out what we were doing with the socks, he discounted the wholesale price to 2,000 Tugrugs / pair.  Expensive, given my very limited budget but I decided that it was worth it to make sure the kids had warm toes throughout the winter.  And yes, Kim, I bought enough  for the orphanage too as you requested!  The only downside will be that we will need volunteers to actually put them on the children's feet as they get their gift bags because if their parent's get ahold of them while they are still in "as new" condition, they will likely be sold for cash rather than worn for warmth.  Anyone want to help out with putting socks on 200 pairs of feet or so on the 30th??

Next it was off to a Mongolian shopping centre way out on the edge of the ger district ( I think I was the only ex-pat there!) as suggested by my driver.  The result? An extremely helpful fellow who didn't have what we needed, but obligingly took us around to people who did. That's how we acquired teething toys, squeaky toys, action figures...

...and cars!  Who could have a gift bag without cars?

For the girls....?? Little baby Barbies...playing cello!  How cute is that!? Each of these was about 1,000 Tugrugs.  So far so good....

  Next, Bayaraa whisked me away to a large local book  store ( where they wouldn't give us a discount!) we nevertheless found a selection of books ranging from 400 Tugrugs ( 30 cents) to 1000  Tugrugs ( 70 cents).  Some of these books have both English and Mongolian, some have coloured pictures and places to colour in, some have brain teasers and tongue twisters and some are traditional fairy tales. 

 As always happens here in UB, when you can't find what you want at the price you want, the best ( and sometimes last!) resort is the Black Market. We were looking for something that older kids would like and in our price range, there just wasn't anything.  Back at the market  ( in minus 35 Celsius !!) we met a couple of really wonderful people who gave us a great discount on already really reasonably priced items ... because they too wanted to be part of helping the poorest of the poor!  The gentleman behind me sold me 80 pairs of gloves for 500 Tugrugs (38 cents or so!) a pair and this lady sold me  funky wrist braces with lovely pictures on them for the boys and wrap around sparkly bracelets for the bigger girls....

 ...400 Tugrugs  apiece!

So... there will be some mix and match of the gifts, and not everyone will get the same thing...but everyone will get a beautiful sparkly cloth bag, a pair of camel hair socks (hooray!!), two toys ( or a toy and a book ...or a toy and a bracelet... or a book and a pair of gloves..you get the picture...right?) - the bigger kids will get socks, gloves and the bracelets or the wrist braces..and  everyone will get a mandarin orange, and apple and some candies in their bag as well...and all for under 5,000 / bag!  Well - truth in advertising here - I took the orange and apple out of the food budget - and they won't go right into the bags as I fear the books might not fare so well if we put fruit in with them.  Volunteers will be handing out the fruit along with Winter Grandfather who will be handing out the gift bags...now I just have to assemble them and get ready to put some smiles on some faces...

 Like this one!

All that's left to say then, is Thank You.  Thank you for your support and encouragement in 2012! You have truly made a difference in these children's lives ( and those of their family members!).  Oh...and in ours too!

Merry Christmas everyone, and, from us to you, sincere best wishes for a healthy and wonderful New Year! 

This week saw a remarkable event up at the Peak - we'll get to that in a minute.  First, for those of you who are following such things, an update on the progress of the construction!

Things are coming along up at the site...We have had some delays due to the electricity being shut off during the day off and on for a couple of weeks  now, but it looks like we are back on track now!  The  house rebuild is nearly done..Looking good for the new teacher & security guard who will be living here!

New interior walls, new exterior walls, new insulation ( LOTS of that!) new ceiling, new roof, new chimney, new windows, new doors, new floor....you get the idea!

Warm and snug and cosy already with the final exterior finishing still to be done!

...and it will be warm all winter long with this great new "heat" wall chimney that is so common here in Mongolia.  The chimney runs through the wall creating a large heat mass which helps keep the house warm all night!  The new fibreglass insulation ( instead of the cardboard box insulation that was previously there!!) will help too!

The exterior finishing for the gers has been slowed down by the electricity outage and the drop in the temperature, but Zagdaa, as usual, has a solution. Here is the new material that will be covering the roof - on top of it will be a rubberized fibreglass that is being prefabbed off site.  The exterior is scheduled to be finished by the 15th! Getting so close now!

So, that's the construction update...on to how the project is helping to build bridges here in Mongolia...and no, not actual bridges...!! 

 Last weekend we had a few very special visitors up to the Peak.  The first, Carol, one of my very good friends here brought along a huge donation of winter jackets, blankets and toys! Some of these items had been donated and brought into Mongolia by Carol's niece...from Dubai!  Wow - who would have thought that this little project would inspire people from so far away to go to such effort!  Thank you Carol for spreading the word about the project and then putting in the effort to get the donations up to the Peak!!

 The other special guests were a group of teachers and students from the American School here in UB who, as part of their public service curriculum, came up to run a soup kitchen for the local community at the dump. The students were all from more affluent Mongolian families and had never been to the ger district before, so it was a really eye-opening experience for them!

First it was off the bus  and into the ger with the soup & bread...

 ..and in the ger there were somewhere in the neighbourhood of 60 kids and a few elderly members of the community all waiting  to meet the generous kids from ASU and their teachers. For those of you who have never been in a ger - 60+ people in a ger makes for avery very full ger! For the mathmeticians in the crowd, the ger is a circle with about a 16 foot diameter.  You do the math.

 The six students and Robert, their teacher, squeezed into the jam packed ger and started the distribution, and got their first look at the people of the Peak.

 The principal from ASU takes her turn with that gorgeous baby!  After we had eaten it was time for some playing outside with the kids...

 It was lovely to see the men around - they are usually up at the dump working when I'm up there.  Here they had managed to find a piece of wood that they were cutting into tiny little pieces so that each family could have some wood to burn.

 Full bellies make for happy kids!

 And the beard provoked quite a lot of interest and experimentation.  She really had to find out if it could be pulled off!

At the end of the day, it was another really wonderful opportunity for building bridges between our two communities....

...and it was SO wonderful to see Mongolian kids up there getting a  first-hand look at a part of their city that they had not really known existed.  And the best part?  They want to come back and help again!!  Wonderful kids - and a wonderful community service programme going there at ASU.  

Thanks you guys!  See you up there next week!

Fifty Million!!

Thank you world.... We've reached 50,000,000 MNT!!! 

For those of you not conversant with Mongolian money, that is pretty close to $40,000.00 CAD and a little less than half of the total amount this phase of the project is going to require!!! Yes, for those of you out there paying attention to the details, we have had to increase the budget slightly as the new roof for the on-site house turned into a whole house remake and we have decided to buy a shipping container for coal / wood / meat and food in for the winter.... all of that to come in our project update blog in the next few days.  For the moment, let's focus on how this amazing accomplishment has come about!  

To begin, we would like to say, sincerely, thank you so much.


We are in awe of all of you who are helping  to make this possible - and there are a LOT of you -so we thought we would share a little bit about how this is all coming together and to introduce you to ( and thank!)  those of you who are working so hard to help bring the project to life.

  Firstly we have been fortunate enough to receive a wonderfully generous donation from Maxam Explosives,  an excellent corporate citizen who very clearly takes their social responsibility seriously! They came up to the site for a visit and, having seen what it is that we're doing and the people we're helping they were very keen to help out. Their donation alone is buying one of the gers that will form part of the centre!

Thank you Maxam! Your generosity is going a long way to make sure that the kids up at the dump will have a safe, warm place in the coming winter months!

We have also had some local expats who have gone way beyond the call of duty to organize  weekly donations and incite competition from the team of folks working down at Oyu Tolgoi which has resulted in donations in excess of 10,000,000 MNT!!.  

These guys also picked up the ball and ran with it ( and are still running with it!) with regards to our most recent fundraising event... Movember....

Movember..in which a lot of people paid a lot of money to see Chelvan clean shaven! Thank you for that by the way - I had never seen ( and didn't expect ever to see!) his upper lip- quite a feat for a 30 plus year relationship!  Movember is turning out to be a  a huge success!  We have raised over 13 million tugriks from Movember alone and the money from that is still coming in- and volunteers down at Oyu Tolgoi site continue to exert lots of pressure to make sure that the largest possible contribution will be forthcoming!!

And then there are the lovely people around the globe who are hosting a whole raft of innovative fundraisers for us!  Here in UB we have been so fortunate to have the Australian community rally around the cause at the AFL Grand Final event at Bojangles Restaurant  here in U.B. to the tune of 2,000,000 MNT!!  Thanks to Mr. Bojangles for chipping in a portion of the bar takings to help out the kids!

  To make things even more special the effort spread to Sydney, Australia where the family of a local Aussie ( our fearless leader for the AFL event) hosted a multi-family garage sale ...the proceeds of which have been donated to the Children of the Peak Foundation.  AND... they threw in their footy tipping winnings too....

We've also recently been the recipients of proceeds of a fund-raising kids' Hallowe'en party here in UB - 1.5 Million!!... (pictures of all of these fundraisers to follow when I am not trying to upload from a hotel room in Asia where the Internet is, at best, sporadic!)

And a yoga-in over in Nevada! The proceeds of that one were matched by a local Nevada company to double the bottom line!  Thank you Thank you Thank you!

And let's not forget the ever-growing cadre of individuals around the world who have made the decision that they would commit some of their hard-earned cash to help the kids.  People  from around the world have been donating via paypal from this blog, direct deposit into our bank accounts, handing over cash or even sending cheques to our bank!!  We even have some people badgering us to set up a "monthly payment" system so they can support the kids on an ongoing basis! So far...can I have a drum roll please...you generous individuals have contributed a whopping total of 22,085,597 MNT!!

And managing all of this would be more than I could take on by myself, so a huge thank you to Sue, our Executive Director, Lorie over in Canada handling the accounting and receipts end of the transaction and Erin keeping everything running smoothly with the U.S. Donations.  

Oh, and let's not forget who we're doing all this for...

 The Children of the Peak have some opportunities coming their way, thanks to all of you!

They have something positive to think about and look forward to and someplace to begin making their plans for their own better futures come true.

Because of your generous support, the kids have  received some warm clothes,

... and food...

...But perhaps, most importantly, those children who are taking care of their infant siblings know that they have the support of the community coming their way, and will soon have a warm, safe place to be...

so they won't have to do it alone any more!  

So to all of you who have given, helped out, spread the word, come up for a visit, promised volunteer hours and supported us through the craziness that the past couple of months has brought....

 Truly heart-felt gratitude is coming your way, from us and from the kids up at the dump and their families!

 Your generosity has already begun changing the community up at the Peak  and giving the kids & their families some hope for a better life.

Here's how the totals work out:


 17,250,156 MNT       in corporate donations
 15,572,156 MNT      from organized fundraisers
 22,085,597 MNT       from personal donations

for a total of....

54,907, 909 MNT raised to date....

Yahoo!!

Now let's go raise the other half!